In Belle Epoque Europe, the dandy movement was taking a stronghold in menswear and women were still wearing panniers and corsets. Italian noble Marchesa Luisa Casati, however, wasn’t content just fitting in with the (historical) ladies who lunch set. Born into aristocracy, she and her sister — reportedly the richest women in all of Italy when their mother passed away and left them her fortune — Casati embraced the dandy movement and began to dress with more eccentricity and flair. She would be quoted as saying she wanted to be a “living work of art.” She favored the dramatic, choosing capes, bold patterns, fur and the finest materials such as velvets, pearls and brocades. And to make more of a statement, she stacked on armfuls of jewelry (sometimes wearing snakes as bracelets) and held a longstanding fascination with the occult, magic, the afterlife and seances.

While Casati, known for her extravagance, has been an inspiration for the fashion cognoscenti for some time now (Marchesa, the red-carpet favorite designer line founded by Karen Craig and Georgina Chapman, takes its name from Casati), it was her darker side that caught the attention of Lulu Frost jewelry creator Lisa Salzer who embraced the darker, more otherworldly side of Casati for her spring 2013 jewelry collection.

Lulu Frost spring 2013 presentation

Lulu Frost spring 2013 presentation

Shedding a more mystical and mysterious light on Casati’s influence and working with close friend and author Leslie M. M. Blume, Salzer embraced the “living art” ethos and highlighted unique fashion muses for her spring collection, which took from Blume’s book, Let’s Bring Back, a tome dedicated to bringing back traditions and things from times gone by. In addition to Casati, her presentation included capsule collections inspired by Elsa Schiaparelli and Jazz Age activist Nancy Cunard. Salzer focused the Casati collection on dark, occult designs, which included cascades of chain and saturated green or black crystals.

Casati was fascinated by celestial influence and magic, so it’s no surprise that there are also crescent moon and sun motifs sprinkled in as well. The chain swags and large, chunky gems also lend to the air of luxury and over-the-top eccentricity embodied by Casati herself. The models at the presentation wore piles and piles of the pieces all together that would have made Casati proud, and fit in perfectly with the layering trend of today’s times. We say work your inner Casati. Our only caution: Skip the snakes-as-jewelry trend bit! .